Occupy Wall Street

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — It’s not over yet. In fact, it may be just beginning.

New York City leaders are warning that thousands of protesters could converge on Manhattan on Thursday. The NYPD is now getting ready for the next stage of “Occupy Wall Street” protests, reports CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer.

It was an unusual impromptu press conference called by City Hall to share intelligence about an international “day of action” by Occupy Wall Street on the movement’s two-month anniversary. Deputy Mayors Cass Holloway and Wolfson said they expect it to be big, but they said the NYPD is ready.

“Make no mistake, public safety is first and foremost, and we have to ensure that the city can run. People need to drive down the streets and use essential services,” Holloway said.

“Any time you have a situation in which you are anticipating tens of thousands of people protesting on a massive scale, you take it seriously and our forces will be deployed accordingly,” Wolfson added.

“Tomorrow is going to be a day of action around the city,” Dobbs said. “I’m looking forward to going after wall street and also galvanizing public support and awareness of what we’re about.”

The organizers and those at Zuccotti Park on Wednesday offered few details of what they’re going to do, but when Kramer asked Dobbs how many he was expecting, he was only partially coy.

“I think there will be good-sized numbers tomorrow,” he said. “I think the message is really about who gets what in this country. We are the 99 percent. Who gets the safety net? And who gets thrown under the bus?”

“Awful, unconscionable, the mayor and police commissioner do that for a long while. Like other people in power, they think if they get rid of the protesters, they will also get rid of the cause,” Dobbs said.

City officials have refused to say how close they will let the protesters get to their main targets, but they insisted they’re ready for anything.

Occupy Wall Street day of action poster (credit: occupywallst.org)

The OWS website says similar days of action are also planned at Occupy sites around the country and around the world.

While the official movement is planning its day of action, other individuals seem to be making plans of their own.

In a video posted on YouTube after protesters were evicted from Zuccotti Park, a demonstrator in the crowd says “On the 17th, we’re going to burn New York City to the ground.”

Warning: Graphic Language – Watch the video below:

Later in the video, he then goes on to say “No more talking. They’ve got guns, we’ve got bottles. They’ve got bricks, we’ve got rocks…in a few days you’re going to see what a Molotov cocktail can do to Macy’s.”

The official movement is calling for only non-violent action during its marches and rallies on Thursday.

What do you think about the OWS day of action? Sound off below in our comments section…